Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Have you ever been stopped in your tracks because your feet came upon the perfect flooring design scheme? One that not only matched a room's decor - in this case a restaurant - but also integrated all of the surrounding design elements? If you haven't, I have one to share with you...

Fellow Surfaces presenter and friend, Chris Ramey, President of Affluent Insights and Chairman of The Luxury Marketing Council Florida, recently forwarded me several photos he had taken of a new restaurant in Miami that had done a particularly effective job of tying together the restaurant's visual themes with a custom carpet design. [Pretty neat when your friends are on the lookout for great carpet for you!]

Here is what Chris wrote me:

Christine,

I've attached a picture I thought your floor covering readers might enjoy because it is a custom printed carpet at the entrance for a new restaurant in Miami. Note how they carried the theme in the front window. Plus, who says custom has to be a large area?

This other picture highlights the menus using the same motif.

Warm regards,

Chris

View from the front window

The menu

The restaurant is very new and doesn't yet have its own website. However, it is related to Tutto Pasta Ristorante.

[I'll have to ask Chris to let us know if the bathrooms further reinforce the custom carpet design and restaurant decor. It might be a wonderful addition to the 2011 Bathroom Blogfest!]

Imagine creating your own custom carpet design for your personal space. Which visual elements and colors would you include? How would you accessorize the rest of the space to support your custom carpet and surrounding decor?

Have you come across a perfect carpet or flooring design scheme that stopped you in your tracks? If so, take a picture and I'll share it with readers of the Carpetology Blog!

My Child Has Asthma. Should I Remove My Carpet? Major medical study says no health benefits to removing carpet.

If you have a child with asthma, it’s likely that, at some time or another, your doctor or other healthcare provider will recommend you remove the carpet from your home. Many consumer websites recommend the same thing, based on the fact that carpet will hold more dust and allergens than hard surface floors.

Carpet manufacturers counter this, saying research shows that the fact that carpet will hold more dust is actually a good thing: dust that is trapped in carpet is not circulating in room air, where children can breathe it in. The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), which represents U.S. carpet manufacturers, says dust in carpet stays put until it is vacuumed or extracted away. The group tests vacuum cleaners and other carpet cleaning equipment, and posts a list of the best ones on its website, www.carpet-rug.org and more specifically in a section detailing Seal of Approval Carpet Cleaning and Maintenance Products.

So, what should you believe about carpet and asthma?

One major study of inner city children with asthma found that when allergen sources are removed from their homes, through improved cleaning practices and elimination of tobacco smoke, asthmatic children will do better, no matter what kind of product is on the floor. A large-scale medical research project called “The Inner City Asthma Study” showed that, when allergen sources such as mold, rodent, and cockroaches are removed, as well as a child’s exposure to tobacco smoke, children’s asthma greatly improves. Further, the Inner-City Asthma Study found no difference in the improvement experienced by children who lived in homes with carpet versus children from homes with other types of flooring. In addition, no difference was found in the levels of allergens measured in carpeted homes compared to homes with hard surface floors.

The study followed 937 children from seven major U.S. cities over the course of a year. Of the participants, more than 50% of the children, aged 5-11 years, had positive skin tests to three or more allergen groups. Other common elements of the group were that they were from families whose incomes were at or close to the poverty level, as well as these factors: Cockroaches were reported in 58% of homes, wall-to-wall carpeting in the child's bedroom in 55%, a smoker in 48%, mice or rats in 40%, and furry pets in 28%.

Family members were given HEPA-filter vacuum cleaners and cleaning products and educated about various allergens and how to remove them from the home. Children’s beds were encased in dust-mite-blocking covers, and professional pest exterminators were called in where needed.

The study found that children in the intervention group missed fewer days of school, slept through the night more, and made fewer trips to the emergency room. Contrary to researchers’ expectations, children with carpet in their bedrooms improved as much and did just as well as children who had hard surface floors.

The interventions also produced marked declines in the measured levels of allergens in the home. Again, in contrast to predictions, no difference in allergen reduction was found between homes with carpets and those without carpeting.

The findings of the Inner City Asthma Study refute the widely-held notion that patients with asthma and/or allergies must remove their carpet, and according to Carpet and Rug Institute President Werner Braun, the study confirms the Carpet and Rug Institute’s (CRI) assertion that clean, dry carpet is a healthy flooring choice for everyone, including children and adults with asthma and allergies. “CRI’s position is based on a body of sponsored as well as independent research, but the Inner City study is significant in that it comes from the medical community,” Braun said.

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Thank you, Bethany, for sharing this information and helping answer the question whether or not to remove carpet from your home when your child or someone else in your household has asthma! If you'd like to learn more about the Inner City Asthma study, you might want to read the posts that Bethany wrote on the CRI Blog. More specifically,

The article shows examples of the product in new concept airplanes and refers to a concept Land Rover. Cell+LED creates a dynamic corporate space, too. I'd love to see this used in medical or hospitality environments. Imagine a movie theatre or a school!

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Here, you'll find thoughts, ideas, resources and links about all things carpet... from design inspiration, to carpet-in-the-news, tips on installing, maintaining and buying carpet, to explaining about the different carpet style trends available.